Chagigah 8a — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara proves this:

apparently, he holds that

the tanna of the Mishna

the festival offering of the fourteenth—

is not required by Torah law

and therefore it may also be brought from second tithe funds.

The Master said:

And concerning the festival offering of the first day of the festival: Beit Shammai say that it must come from non-sacred funds,

while Beit Hillel say that it may come from second tithe funds.

And we raise a difficulty concerning the statement of Beit Hillel:

Why

may the festival offering be brought even from second tithe funds? But the festival offering

is an offering whose obligation applies to him, and every offering whose obligation applies to him may be brought only from non-sacred funds!

Ulla said:

Actually, even according to Beit Hillel, the festival offering may be brought only from non-sacred funds. Beit Hillel permitted bringing it from second tithe funds only

in

the manner of

“combining”

second tithe funds with non-sacred funds and bringing the offering.

And the Gemara explains how he combines them:

Ḥizkiya said: One combines an animal

from second tithe funds

with an animal

from non-sacred funds.

That is, if he has many people whom he must feed the meat of the festival offering, and one animal is not sufficient for them, he brings one animal as a festival offering from non-sacred funds, and he brings the other animals from second tithe funds. Although all the offerings that he brings on the first day have the status of festival offerings, he has already fulfilled his obligation with the first offering, which came from non-sacred funds, and he may now add further offerings from second tithe funds. [Rashi]

But one does not combine

or join

money

of second tithe funds

with money

from non-sacred funds in order to purchase one large animal.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said

the opposite:

One combines money with money, but one does not combine one animal with another animal.

A baraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Ḥizkiya,

and

a baraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan.

A baraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan,

which said: One combines only money: It is written: “And you shall perform the festival offering of the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God,

according to the tax

of your freewill offering, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.” “

Tax”—

the verse teaches

that

a person brings his obligatory offering from non-sacred funds.

And from where do we know that if he wishes to combine

second tithe funds with non-sacred funds,

he may combine them

?

The verse states: “

And you shall perform,”

as the Lord your God blesses you.

This implies: You shall perform with everything with which He blesses you, even with second tithe funds.

And since the verse uses the expression “combine,” this implies that one combines money with money and combines them in one animal. But when one combines one animal with another animal, there is no combining here, since each animal stands separately. This is why a baraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan.

A baraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Ḥizkiya:

“Tax”—

the verse teaches that a person brings his obligatory offering from non-sacred funds.

Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagreed about this matter.

Beit Shammai,

who prohibit combining second tithe money,

say: On the first day,

when he brings the offering as a festival offering, he brings it only

from non-sacred funds.

From that point onward,

when he brings it for rejoicing, which applies throughout all seven days, he may bring it also

from second tithe funds.

And Beit Hillel,

who permit combining second tithe money,

say: For the first meal,

that is, he must bring the first animal

from non-sacred funds,

and

from that point onward,

even on that same day, he may bring the festival offering even

from second tithe funds.

And throughout all the other days of Passover

[apart from the first day], which are only for rejoicing,

a person fulfills his obligation with an animal tithe

if he has one. All the more so, he may purchase a peace-offering with second tithe money. [Rashi]

But on a Festival day, even when he brings an offering for rejoicing, he does not fulfill his obligation with an animal tithe, and the reason is explained below.

We have therefore learned the opinion of Ḥizkiya: Beit Hillel permitted bringing another animal from second tithe funds, but with regard to that same animal, one may not combine second tithe money. The Gemara now discusses the statement: “And throughout all the other days of Passover, even with an animal tithe.” This implies that on a Festival day, one may not bring an animal tithe even for rejoicing:

On a Festival day—

why does he not

bring an animal tithe for rejoicing?

Rav Ashi said:

Because of a rabbinic decree,

lest he come to tithe

an animal tithe

on a Festival day. And it is impossible

to tithe on a Festival day because of marking

[painting with red dye].

The usual procedure for tithing animals is as follows: A person opens the pen and leads all the animals through a narrow opening, beneath the staff bearing the dye in his hand. When the tenth animal comes out, he marks it and says: “This is the tithe.”

Missing text

The Gemara now explains the derivation of the principle “every offering whose obligation applies to him may be brought only from non-sacred funds” from the word “tax”:

And we ask about this:

What

that is, how

does it imply that this word “tax” \-

is an expression referring to non-sacred funds?

And we answer: Because

it is written: “And King Ahasuerus imposed a tax upon the land.”

We learned in the Mishna:

The Jewish people fulfill their obligation

of rejoicing

through

eating meat from

vows and freewill offerings. The Sages taught:

It is written:

“And you shall rejoice on your festival”—

to include all kinds of rejoicing as means of rejoicing!

This implies that we were commanded only to rejoice, so that we would have meat to eat, and not to offer a special sacrifice for rejoicing. Therefore, one can fulfill the obligation of rejoicing even with the meat of offerings brought as vows and freewill offerings.

Missing text

From here the Sages said: The Jewish people fulfill their obligation

of rejoicing on the festival

with offerings brought as vows and freewill offerings, and with an animal tithe.

And the priests

fulfill the obligation of rejoicing

with a sin-offering, a guilt-offering, a firstborn offering, and the breast and thigh.

One might have thought

that he fulfills the obligation of rejoicing

even with birds and meal-offerings?

The verse states: “And you shall rejoice on your festival.”